To spend money on period pants?

[DontWantTheRivalry]

I have the most horrendous periods - I won’t go into detail but the flooding, leaking and huge clots are big problems for me and have a big impact on my life.

I don’t use tampons because they’d just flood so instead I wear sanitary towels that I have to change every 1-2 hours as a minimum.

I’m so done with it. I’m fed up of not being able to leave my house when I’m on my period for fear of leaking and I’m fed up of of having to sit and sleep on towels and I’m really fed up of throwing clothes away because they are ruined by huge floods.

I have been reading about period pants and although they are expensive I’m thinking they may be my only option.

I was talking to my good friend about it and she said that in my circumstances period pants would be pointless as they wouldn’t be able to cope with my flow and clots. She said I would just be wasting my money.

It made me feel really upset because I can’t cope anymore with the impact my period has in my life and I really thought they might be a life changer for me.

AIBU to at least try even them even if it so expensive?

Has anyone else used them for very heavy periods?

I’m one step away from asking for a hysterectomy! I am just so fed up with it all

Hi there, I feel your pain and have been in a similar situation for years. I tried tranemexic acid and it didn't work for me. Please go back to the doctors. I had a scan and they found fibroids and in November I had a myomectomy. I'm just coming to the end of my first period since that and I feel like 'oh this is what normal periods must be like!' No having to empty my Mooncup every hour, bleeding through pads and clothes, worrying about being out, getting up in the night 5 or 6 times.
I hope you can find a resolution soon x

What a bloody design fault menstruation truly is!! I have had a hysterectomy and could not wait to be rid of the monthly bloody battle.

Period pants would never have managed to contain the flow. I wish you luck in finding the right answer for you.

Sounds horrendous. I have Cheeky Wipes pants and love them, also cloth pads but i find they migrate a lot.

I have similarly heavy periods and can't leave the house on my heaviest day. I've just had the mirena put in despite previously not getting on with it but as I'm getting closer to menopause my periods are just getting worse and out of control now. I use Flux period pants (for heavy periods) together with pads on the heaviest day. Sometimes I double up with 2 pairs of pants, especially at night. It still leaks sometimes as the pants don't absorb clots that well but if you can go to the toilet regularly it's OK. The rest of my period I use a combo of period pants and moon cup. If you can't use super sized tampons then don't expect to be OK with a moon cup on your heaviest day. Mine won't sit properly as it is too "wet" to get a good seal. Still worth having for the lighter days as you can put it in and forget about it for hours.

Of course you can bleed into period pants

Really? I thought they were a back up in case your cup leaks. If you bleed heavily into them don’t you squelch in blood and have to keep changing into a fresh pair?

Do clots stay on the surface? Or absorb?

Also don’t they smell if you wear the same pair for hours, like not changing a soaked pad?

Clots can stay on the surface which is why I'd suggest using with a mooncup. The cup catches the clots, the pants catch the overflow and absorb it. The material is a special one so that you stay dry and no, it doesn't smell. If your periods are not extremely heavy you can wear one pair all day and not feel wet at all.

I wonder why you chose to give the OP advice on period pants when you've clearly never used them or understood how they work?

Clots stay on the surface like they do on sanitary towels. You can wipe them off.

Period pants come in different absorbencies, they have several layers on the gusset of absorbent material like reusable pads do. The top layer wicks away the blood so you don’t feel wet.

You can use period pants with sanitary towels on heavy days to prevent leakage and just the pants on light days.

They do not smell and you don’t feel wet.

I would thoroughly recommend a cup for heavy flow, life changing not to keep flooding and feeling constantly uncomfortable

@DorotheaHomeAlone

I have very heavy flow for the first two days and use a combination of super plus tampons and heavy flow modibodi pants. Neither would be sufficient on its own but together they make things manageable and massively reduce my period stress.

This is my experience too. Tbh I didn't think my periods were even that heavy. I have used washing powder containing softener though so maybe mine are compromised

Consider using a moon cup with the period pants. Mooncups are so much better for you and the environment than tampons and hold more.

Recommend the cup plus period pants. Overnight period pants are the right ones to go for re flooding- the shorts variety.

For a cup would recommend the 'put a cup in it' website. There are loads of different ones so to avoid having lots of trial and error they have a quiz. You answer a few questions and it tells you the best one for you. Cups have much more capacity than tampons, there is definitely a learning curve but you get there quickly!

@Giraffesandbottoms

I thought they looked genius so stupidly bought loads from two brands. Fucking hated them - they just felt so restrictive and bulky snd made me feel claustrophobic! But then I also can’t wear shape wear etc for the same reason and most people are fine with tht. It’s a shame as it’s a great idea.

If you ever have the courage to try again - look into different materials, cuts, shapes of the actual padded area, different absorbency level etc. I tried various brands in a shop and at the time most of them had too stiff a material which I also didnt like. Found a pair made of lighter stretchier material and a cut I liked. They shouldnt feel bulky.

ps. My period underwear needs to be washed with a gel, not a powder as it might damage the padded layers.

Thanks everyone I’m going to bite the bullet and get a cup and some pants.

I had to stay at my mom’s house last night and as my period is due today I felt so anxious at the though of leaking overnight.

I went to bed last night wearing the biggest pants I could find, three sanitary towels, wearing the thickest pyjama bottoms I could find and I’m sleeping on two towels that I’ve bought from home.

I’ve woken up this morning and I feel soaked

I don’t want to stand up because it’s going to be like a red waterfall, complete with clots, and then I’ve got to try and find a way to get to the bathroom without coming across her or her lodger.

I’m going to work today so I have to pack spare clothes and lots of spare underwear.

I’ve got two really important meetings today, the first is two hours long and I’m petrified I’m just going to have a huge flooding incident and not be able to do anything.

This is no way to live.

Being a woman is totally shit

Goodness you really do need to keep hassling, that sounds awful.

Have you tried the disposable incontinence pants whilst you're waiting? Obviously with other things , but wonder if they may be able to help with the suddenness of it

Well after another day of horrendous flooding at work resulting in having to throw away two pairs of underwear and a pair of my works trousers I’ve decided to just ring the GP in the morning and tell them I want a Gynae referral.

I’m just done now.

I bought one pair of sainsburys ones for say 1 of my cycle, just to try, and I liked them. They did unfortunately start to drip in the evening - I noticed it when I was getting undressed for bed - but you could obviously change in the day, and two pairs to wash is better than 6 towels in the bin.

@DontWantTheRivalry

Well after another day of horrendous flooding at work resulting in having to throw away two pairs of underwear and a pair of my works trousers I’ve decided to just ring the GP in the morning and tell them I want a Gynae referral.

I’m just done now.

Woah i bet you're horrendously tired all the time. Definitely ring your GP and don't take no as an answer.

@DontWantTheRivalry what about the pill?

@DontWantTheRivalry what about the pill?

I can’t take any hormonal contraception because it reduces the efficiency of the tablets I take for my chronic condition.

@DontWantTheRivalry what about local contraception like the coil? You're right it's no way to live xx

Woah i bet you're horrendously tired all the time. Definitely ring your GP and don't take no as an answer.

Definitely.

I take 210mg iron tablets, three times a day, and have been doing for the last two years but they don’t make any difference.

I’m so upset because I’m meant to be going to a different county tomorrow to see a show which involves being out the house for 8 hours, two trains journeys and obviously sitting down for 3 hours to watch the show. I could cry at the the thought of it because I just don’t know how I’m going to do that alongside the flooding. I’m going to have to take loads of sanitary protection with me and changes of clothes and it’s going to ruin the whole day

I had the same issue as you. Went straight to using modibodi 24 hour pants and haven’t leaked since. They last the night. I do change them if I have flooding during the day but they’ve never let me down I just feel more comfortable changing. I use them for running in too and slipped once and fell bottom first onto a hard rock. My pelvic floor definitely didn’t hold and my pants coped just fine.

@DontWantTheRivalry what about local contraception like the coil? You're right it's no way to live

I’ve had the Coil twice before and if anything I bled more. I bled every day for about 6 months so I had it removed.

I have told my GP that I don’t want a coil so they’ve now just sort of left me to get on with it

Slightly off topic but can I ask...

How on earth do you women who suffer such heavy bleeding cope? How does it feel physically? I can only imagine utterly draining?

I ask because I always thought I had heavy periods, in fact this cycle I had to empty my moon cup at 4 hours (wasn't even full) and I thought I'd die of blood loss. Slightly dramatic I confess...

But it prompted me to Google and I was disappointed at how naive I was considering I've been having periods over 20 years. I'm so tired / worn out during my period but the exhaustion must be something else when you are losing blood like that?